The decomposed body of a Lower East Side woman was found in her kitchen yesterday, the stove left on since her death four days earlier, authorities said.

Police made the grisly discovery at 3 a.m. after neighbors on Suffolk Street became alarmed about odors – including the strong smell of gas – coming from the third-floor apartment of Karen Ruddock, 31.

An autopsy and toxicology tests were under way last night.

Ruddock moved to New York from Georgia at least two years ago. An artist’s easel was found in her apartment, but it wasn’t known what she did for a living.

Sources said cocaine was discovered in the kitchen, vegetables were left in the sink, and blood was found on her nose and a laundry bag.

“She kept to herself,” though she had many visitors, said building super Al Hope.

An ex-boyfriend of Ruddock, who said Ruddock’s father had called him, declined to comment.